NSF Awards: 1612824
2017 (see original presentation & discussion)
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Undergraduate
This Research in Service to Practice project, funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, is a collaboration of Pepperdine University and the New York Hall of Science. It has established a network of STEM-related Media Making Clubs comprised of after-school students aged 12 - 19 and teachers in the U.S. and in three other countries: Kenya, Namibia and Finland. The media produced by the students primarily involve videos in its first year, and will include a range of formats such as videos, short subject films, games, computer programs and specialized applications like interactive books. The content of the media produced by the students focuses on the illustration and teaching of STEM topics, where the shared media is intended to help other students become enthused about and learn the science. This proposal builds on previous work on localized media clubs by now creating an international network in which after-school students and teachers will collaborate at a distance with other clubs.
The central research questions for the project pertain to three themes at the intersection of learning, culture and collaboration: the impact of participatory teaching, virtual networks, and intercultural, global competence. The research will combine qualitative, cross-cultural and big data methods. Critical to the innovation of the project, the research team is also developing a network assessment tool by adapting epistemic network analysis methods to the needs of this initiative.
Eric Hamilton
Welcome to this STEM for All project! This project uses the acronym IC4 - International Clubs for Collaborative Content Creation. Our clubs have just started operating this year, and are supported by a four year NSF award. We would love to hear your thoughts about collaborative virtual media-making spaces that cross national and cultural boundaries. The four countries in which this project functions - US, Namibia, Kenya and Finland, are very different but the students find important commonalities. Our research component draws on interesting new methods. Please share comments, ideas, places we should explore, and let us know if you see a way to become involved. Thank you! -Eric Hamilton and the IC4 team.
Hiroo Kato
Ateng' Ogwel
Veera Kallunki
Henry Buttuk
Joseph Ogwel
This is a great project with promising outcomes in learner engagement through media creation and use. We already see good outcomes in St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Mpesa Foundation Academy and the other host sites. Let's enhance the visibility
Eric Hamilton
Hiroo Kato
Veera Kallunki
Henry Buttuk
Helen Teague
Ateng' Ogwel
Veera Kallunki
I totally agree with Joseph. Also here in Finland the beginning of the project has been very promising. In addition to learning media making and STEM contents, a big positive thing here is the increased engagement to learn English that is used as a lingua franca in this project. For example, last time when an online meet-up was organised, I heard students planning together how they can say what they wanted in English. They also asked me how to express something, for example: "Veera, how can I say that my video tells about the Baltic Sea?" Some of the students opened their English textbooks and searched words from there...
Eric Hamilton
Hiroo Kato
Ateng' Ogwel
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
Veera, this is good news. I believe we are learning from previous engagements. In particular, the VIP project in the SAVI project had amazing insights on how to engage learners. Am keeping my eyes, ears and connectivity open to the learnings
Eric Hamilton
It is so cool that Veera is running this in Finland.
Eric Hamilton
A one-page description of the project may also be useful, and it appears at http://bit.ly/ic4-researcher-info-page.
Ateng' Ogwel
Zach Mbasu
For learners participating in this project, IC4 has become a space outside classroom for dynamic, interactive learning where students guide each other to apply concepts and engage creatively with STEM subject matter through group work, online discussions and peer feedback.
Veera Kallunki
Helen Teague
Eric Hamilton
charlotte blessing
I think it's important that the projects offers a creative learning space outside school. Too often is learning associated with a brick and mortar school when learning should taking place anywhere, anytime. Lifelong learning must be nurtured so each individual will continue to thrive and contribute.
Ateng' Ogwel
Veera Kallunki
Zach Mbasu
Thank you for your comment Charlotte and we are still learning. In the projects that students come up with, they try out new ideas, new skills, rethink prior learning and reassemble them into new ones. Could you be having ideas and suggestions on how to nurture lifelong learning?
Helen Teague
Marcelo Worsley
Assistant Professor
Thank you for sharing your work. This sounds like a great way to foster international collaborations. In watching the videos, and looking over the one pager, I was curious to know how students and teachers come up with their project ideas? Are there themes that they follow, or a set of materials that aim to guide them, or is it more open?
Eric Hamilton
Helen Teague
Kristina Lux
Zach Mbasu
Thank you Marcelo, it is more open and in some cases project ideas arise and re-arise naturally in response to questions and reactions during the online meetups.
Helen Teague
Eric Hamilton
In addition to my other response, Marcelo, nice to hear from my alma mater in Evanston :)
Eric Hamilton
Marcelo, thank you for the question. It is pretty open-ended. On our shared space we have around fifty project ideas that participants have come up with, maybe more. And the NY Hall of Science Explainer TV group also comes up with ideas. Definitely wide open!
Helen Teague
Kristina Lux
Michael Lach
Director of STEM Policy and Strategic Initiatives
Hey there, Eric and team. This looks really exciting! Congrats on all the hard work and thinking. How are the student projects used in their classrooms? Does the whole class do this, or an after school group? Have you thought of ways to test how useful they are to other students--I bet they're a lot more dynamic than many of the textbooks out there!
Ateng' Ogwel
Eric Hamilton
Michael, in this early stage, this is all media-maker club outside of school. We are looking at ways that classes can engage, but it is first and foremost an informal science ed effort. But the videos and other artifacts are meant to be used in formal settings as well. I am trying to work with Joanne Lobata at SDSU, whose group does a lot of work on the efficacy of student created artifacts. Thank you!
Kristina Lux
The students/learners come up with the videos themselves. They focus on thoughts and ideas of interest to them. After creating these videos, they are then shared with other students/learners globally.
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
Kristine, the configuration of the teams and the structure of the work flows creates a "club" system where focus is on learners' own initiatives, demanded guidance rather than supplied instruction. It makes it easier to begin, document and learn, and hopefully, policy makers are also 'listening' to see how gains in such initiatives may be contextually sustained. In deed promising!
charles Njoroge
This is an exciting venture that will help learners and teachers to break away from the chalk and talk way of learning making it easy and interesting to learn.I wish to be part of the same here in Kenya.
Veera Kallunki
Helen Teague
Kristina Lux
Eric Hamilton
Charles. where are you teaching now? Your name is familiar... Are you in Nairobi or Thika? I love the expression "break away from the chalk" !
Ateng' Ogwel
Kristina Lux
Zach Mbasu
Charles, the paradigm shift towards student-centred learning in Kenyan classrooms requires educators to reflect on the roles we play in and outside the classroom, and the skills we need. I am excited that you are flexible and willing to be part of the learning process.
Katherine Culp
Charles, I love the phrase "break away from the chalk!" I am a co-PI on this project from the New York Hall of Science. Eric and his team are incredible role models, demonstrating how to quickly and transparently build a strong, open international collaboration.
Helen Teague
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
Katherine, this is encouraging news and I hope we will be able to connect more teams to this great initiative
Henry Buttuk
Helen Teague
Eric Hamilton
Katherine, My liege Ateng' Ogwel, replying to you above, is an amazing partner in Kenya. Without each of you, there would be no project, so many thanks to both of you. We are so proud to partner with NYSci and with Ateng's agency within the Kenyan Ministry of Education.
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
Eric, these are great comments. I should be able to see how the segments in which I appear have more clarity. It's sometimes amazing how you express these "things", and the connecting thread in your vision is so empowering, service to humanity. As George Pepperdine put it, "Freely ye received, freely give".
Helen Teague
Helen Teague
Joseph: I so appreciate your comment here and the eloquent way you connect IC4 to George Pepperdine's founding vision. Thank you!
Lynette Foe-Aman
The video was a great way to introduce the project. It also provided a glimpse at what it looks like in a classroom setting. The students fully engage when they have the independence to learn.
The IC4 club was an engaging way to begin the process of collaboration. Students had fun utilizing their creative skills. We often heard them laughing and brainstorming ideas.
I was most impressed at the quality of the research projects that students want to study. They now need the time and structure to delve into a topic. I would not be surprised if we had a group or two that begin the process of solving a world issue.
I love being a part of NSF and Dr. Hamilton's forward look at education. As a teacher, I become invested and excited every year.
Hiroo Kato
Ateng' Ogwel
Veera Kallunki
Kristina Lux
Helen Teague
Eric Hamilton
We love having you be a part of and helping to shape and define this work. it has been a ride we could not take without you and George.
Kristina Lux
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
True, George and Lynette are amazing and having seen their work at Long Beach - we have a couple and a team of professionals, a pair among others, on whose shoulders we stand.
rachel nghifikwa
i am a 3rd year college student in Namibia and im helping in facilitating the project here in Namibia and its a great opportunity that is granded to the learners and myself to participate in the video making clubs. im gonna be a teacher soon (im studying education ) and i feel like my involvement in this project will make my work as a teacher easier , with all the exposure to new ideas and technology
Ateng' Ogwel
Helen Teague
Eric Hamilton
We are fortunate to have you on this time, Ms Nghifikwa!
Ateng' Ogwel
Kristina Lux
Rachel is an enormous asset to our team and we are so lucky to have her. Her incite and promise for future learners is enormous.
Mary Carey
So proud to see Pepperdine on the cutting edge! STEM and global collaboration are crucial to our future, in education and beyond.
Kristina Lux
Eric Hamilton
Mary, I don't know if we are on the cutting edge, but it is immensely rewarding to see students collaborate like this, and as we expected, the unexpected is always showing up!
Ateng' Ogwel
Kristina Lux
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
Eric, Mary is right about Pepperdine, yourself and the Project. Looking back, nearly 10 years ago when we met in Makerere University, am not sure if am dealing with the same Hamilton of "ins and outs" at USAFA. You are indeed patient, resilient, visionary and a humble servant. To God be the Glory
Jose Gamez
This project brings students and teachers together in a global setting to collaborate as one. As students and teachers collaborate together a higher level of education takes place in the learning environmen among participants, respect, commitment, and improving teaching techniques. Student participatory teaching provides students an opportunity to become independent learners. Yet, another asset of this program is that student participatory teaching also provides students the opportunity to shape and enhance their teaching skills. This project is a great example of Education taking place in the classroom without boundaries or borders.
Eric Hamilton
Mr Gamez, thank you for your excellent effort in this project. I think you are right about the participatory teaching. That has to be an important priority for us. You are helping us move beyond boundaries and borders!
Jose Gamez
It is wonderful to see students eager to learn from each other and to work together from different parts of the world in one single setting. It is wonderful to see how students suddenly become part of your teaching team in the classroom. Students helping you to teach students that is priceless!
Christine Laetitia
Helen Teague
You are exactly right, Jose! I am focusing on your comment that "students helping you to teach students that is priceless!" I heartily agree and I am reminded of Carol Dweck's premise that intellectual skills could be cultivated, especially in constructivist classrooms that honor many voices and viewpoints! Thank you for your comment, Jose! Do you see applications of the IC4 concept to your professional practice?
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
Helen, these remarks "students helping you......." is true and accurate. Zach has evidence on what students are able to do during Maths Camps and we also witnessed during a holiday when we had GeoGebra Handshops in a couple of schools. Let's keep the hope and optimism, and share the little stories. I believe we do not need spectacular results, we just need to tell the story as it is.
Helen Teague
Catherine William
This video and overall project provides great insight on how collaborative environments are able to encourage the process of learning for students in a universal fashion. The utilization technology is able to unify the students and teachers across the world, and they are able to exchange ideas and concepts relative to what it is they are studying. This video is extremely indicative of the benefits and the positive reinforcements that the engagement of technology is able to give to the students. I can most definitely see this growing and being incorporated into varying education systems in other countries in the near future. It's very exciting to see the potential this project has.
Helen Teague
Ateng' Ogwel
Helen Teague
Hi Catherine: Your comment regarding as a unifying force for teachers and students is exactly what the IC4 project embodies. Activities listed for participatory teaching include brainstorming, role plays, experiments, discussions, and field trips. These are productive alternatives to traditional instruction but they usually originate with the a teacher task. The interactivity of the IC4 discussions is primarily with and among students. Technology such as Fuze enables global conversations and interactivity in real time! Thank you again, Catherine!
Christine Laetitia
Jeremy Roschelle
Beautiful video, Eric and team! say more about "cyberensembles" -- what's new and different? what unique insights are emerging that go beyond the 1:1 metaphor.
Ateng' Ogwel
Eric Hamilton
Helen Teague
Hi Jeremy: Much appreciation for all you do through S.R.I.! Cyberensembles include combinations of five key activities: Inversion, Immersion, Knowledge-sharing, Querying, and Digital Media-Making in STEM Classrooms. Here is a link to one of Dr. Hamilton's early papers on Cyberensembles: http://www.learntechlib.org/p/37639.
Thank you for your comment!
Christine Laetitia
Eric Hamilton
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
Helen, please tell Jeremy that it was an act of God that made me miss the Cyberlearning Meeting in January 2016, and Zach was able to attend in April. It gave us opportunity to expand the team, and create more opportunities for the young. His work with others at SRI is rewarding and Godly
Helen Teague
Eric Hamilton
Jeremy, thank you. I think once we move past the start stage on the new project, we will have more to share. But the idea behind the ensembles - to make cyber combinations - is something we have applied to classroom settings. The idea is that you can if you have strategies that each feed off of each other, and each induce high engagement, you can intensify the immersive nature of the experience. Mostly, though, we learned how to manage each of the components more effectively to more routinely induce high engagement and flow. The synergy of the combinations has not quite materialized the way we expected. But - i am convinced that the analog - what we cal neural ensembles - to have multiple activity paths that are high engagement (or rest) regularly available will produce neural activation patterns that can be very powerful. Something I have spent some time talking with Anthony Wagner at Stanford. He thinks the conjecture is sound.
Hiroo Kato
Ateng' Ogwel
Christine Laetitia
Helen Teague
Kristina Lux
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
Eric, your response to Jeremy is revealing the ultimate, a kind of area you are reluctant to engage in for fear of losing some of us. Reminds me of the last supper in Helsinki, the discussion with Ron. I hear you my liege, am not sure if am following you!!!!
christinelaetitia@gmail.com
Interesting thread of discussions on the student-teacher media making clubs. The idea of learners making videos on concepts in maths and science that they would like to teach others through sharing with other students in different countries/continents sounds to me more of "project-based learning'', which is GREAT!
I have a number or related questions though; while working virtually,
1.Can students of different levels ,say in high school or college collaborate? What if they have conflicting information/concepts, or language barrier? 2.What's the project team trying to find out about? Is it outcomes of collaborative learning, impact of media clubs?. ....How would u measure if at all the students are learning,... because you can study about any STEM topic and make a video out of it but does this mean you understood or conceptualized the idea/concept? Outcomes of this project could be really interesting (I think) & make huge impact if this grows into a public platform with more learners ( both students & teachers) generating content and sharing.Eric Hamilton
Veera Kallunki
Helen Teague
Helen Teague
Hi Christine, Thank you for your kind comments and thoughtful questions. The virtual component does lend itself to collaboration across thousands of miles. The teachers of record in this discussion would be the best to comment about their assessment methods and student grouping. As part of the research team, we use a code book of recurring terms of engagement used by the students and teachers. The research has yielded rich troves of data that reflect participatory student-led teaching, the cyberensemble skill combinations, student engagement, deep, concentration/flow states of learning, collaboration, academic speech and transfer of knowledge, informal teaching and learning, and increased math concept retention through media-making. There is also more information in our information sheet at this link: http://bit.ly/ic4-researcher-info-page. Do you see ways to replicate this approach or become involved? Hope this helps to begin our thinking together ~ Helen
Christine Laetitia
Zach Mbasu
Thank you Christine for your great questions. We are still learning as we observe students (age range 10-19) from four different countries, three different continents work together on project ideas suggested by themselves. The project seeks to nurture meaningful and scientifically rigorous collaborations that cross ages and connect cultures.
We are Investigating how digital maker‐space collaborations help others, between adolescents and teachers in different parts of the world, and how they can make a significant societal impact. Also, we examine research in multiple areas in order to advance informal STEM subject learning.
In some videos of unfamiliar problems/projects developed by students, the explanations they give go beyond what is obvious or what is explicitly taught, makes subtle connections, well supported by argument and evidence and novel thinking is displayed. Could you be having other ideas of how to measure the students learning and best ways to establish degrees of understanding?
Christine Laetitia
Veera Kallunki
Thank you Christine about your questions and comments! I want to say something about the language barriers you asked. Here in Finland the students generally start studying English (that is used as a lingua franca in this project) when they are 9 year olds. So, for example the two clubs of 11-year-olds that are taking part in the project now, have officially studied English only 2 years, couple of hours per week.
That means that communicating in English is challenging for them. But, because the setting of the project is so exciting, students seem to forget their limitations. In online meet-ups you meet real living people from countries that are somewhere far away, and these people are interested in you and your project. That setting makes that students really want to say what they have in their minds, no matter how many grammar mistakes they do. It was so rewarding to follow those little kids eagerly trying to find the right words and expressions to say what they wanted. And, what was also a good thing, they did that together.
Zach Mbasu
Christine Laetitia
Christine Laetitia
Thank you Veera, Zach and Helen for the insightful responses. It appears that there is already deep thinking on the overall assessment of the project. I would be particularly interested in the knowledge flow within the learner networks; what is being shared, to who (is it across different age/school/culture levels and what the impact of this knowledge transfer is in the overall project setup.
Given the participatory nature of the project, I would think they would be lots of interaction between & within the learner virtual networks, this might influence direction/flow of learning, and to what extent there would be transfer & gain of knowledge....the rich troves of data might help in evaluation. Students’ reflections would be another rich source of data.
Danielle Espino
Hi Christine, just to tag on to Helen, Zach and Veera (who also all work on the project), we've found that the online global meet-ups have become an important part for knowledge sharing. A participant "presents" their video, then everyone gives feedback on both the content and quality of the video making. This has led to some rich conversations on both STEM subjects and cultural awareness. At the end of the meet-ups, we have the participants write a reflection on their experience of the session. The reflections have helped us to better organize the meet-ups, which have now become an exciting part of the project.
Christine Laetitia
Helen Teague
Helen Teague
Danielle explains a lot about the infrastructure of IC4 and reflection is integral to the ecosystem architecture. Following Schon's research, both reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. Reflections are harvested through interviews, transcriptions, recorded meet-ups, and collecting reflections through mutually shared GDocs. Key words and concepts are curated for further investigation in the best practice development. Danielle's open, positive reinforcement, and transparency catalyzes the global synergy across the innovative and experiential collaborations. (Thanks again, Danielle!)
Christine Laetitia
Eric Hamilton
Dr Teague, well-said all the way around!
Victoria Wambua
This is a great initiative, team! I am a great advocate for learners constructing their own understanding and sharing it. The collaboration part is interesting as students will not only learn the content, but they will also learn of the different ways of communicating mathematics across regions.
I have used Khan Academy videos in teaching and I know the supplemental benefit of using videos in teaching and learning. I have liked the idea of media making since my encounter with Eric Hamilton at an international conference in Kenya. When I was in Kenya I tried getting students in the class that I taught to make videos explaining some concepts in trigonometry for their final project. We shared the videos in the link below:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAV7Y7QZWRMTir...
I support this initiative and would love to be part of this team!
Zach Mbasu
Thank you Victoria for your comment. The goal here is to have learners take control of the knowledge process and begin to see themselves as producers, not just victims of knowledge. You were at the root of implementation at Maseno University and we do value having you at the center of the research process.
Joni Falk
This seems like a fabulous project How do the students from Kenya, Namibia and Finland see each other's work? Are groups in the three countries ever working on common or shared challenges? Do you have events akin to this STEM For All Video Showcase where work across the three countries is shared and discussed? As PI for the Video Showcase I am very intrigued with your project and wonder if there are any great ideas for collaboration.
Veera Kallunki
Veera Kallunki
The students meet each other in online global meet-ups that are organised every month. They are so excited!
During the meet-ups students chat and talk about their works. The online system that is used also allows screen sharing and that is the way the students can watch the videos together and talk about them.
Helen Teague
Veera Kallunki
Hi Joni, one more thing. Yes, the students can also work on shared challenges, and the project strongly supports this kind of activity by grouping the students into global groups, so that there are members from every country in a group.
Helen Teague
Zach Mbasu
Christine Laetitia
Danielle Espino
Hi Joni, Veera did a great job of sharing our strategy. The participants use Microsoft OneNote to share ideas and collaborate on projects, and we have online global meet-ups among our participating schools to provide an opportunity for participants to "see" each other and share/discuss their work. The discussions during the meet-up usually revolve around projects they are working on and videos they've made-- for example, participants had some rich discussions on topics of environmental conservation, the lived experience of their country, differences in weather/seasons, and most recently, coding and robotics. Project topics so far are self-directed, rather than something assigned to the groups. Since we are still in the relatively early stages of our project, the participants' work is mainly shared within our network of clubs, but we hope to showcase their work in the future-- stay tuned!
Hiroo Kato
Hiroo Kato
Hi Danielle, what do online global meet-ups look like, and what setups do you use?
Joni Falk
Hi Danielle and Veera, It sounds like you are experimenting with a variety of ways for students to speak to each other about common challenges. It is a great project and I will stay tuned. Should you ever be interested in them having a video showcase where they can share videos with each other and also with other peers, their community, parents, etc. and discuss the videos then let me know! Best of luck with this fascinating project.
Helen Teague
Eric Hamilton
Joni, this is an intriguing suggestion. We have multiple ways that we share the videos, but something on the order of a showcase - which, let's face it, TERC definitely knows how to do :) - would help us in efforts to establish standards for publication for the students and teachers, for example. So I will discuss further with the heroes you addressed (Danielle and Veera) and other members of the team. Thank you. And say hello to JA-C.
Danielle Espino
To Hiroo, the online global meet-ups are conducted in Fuze. I create a Google Doc agenda that structures the meet-up (so participants can post their video/project links they want to share, or questions they want to pose to the group). We try to limit the amount of participants to keep the meet-up intimate for conversation; no more than 2-3 students from 3 schools at a time (max 9 participants), which has helped in creating more interactions. We have the participants write reflections immediately following the session. Thanks for the question (and perhaps we will meet someday, I've heard a lot about you!).
Hiroo Kato
Hiroo Kato
Thanks, Danielle. How do you get people in different time-zones to meet synchronously? That must be a challenge!
Are you based in the Malibu campus? I will be sure to visit when I am there next time!
Danielle Espino
That's a good question-- the different time zones can be a struggle, but since we limit the number of participant/sites at each session, it helps us to narrow down a time. Some sites are restrictive on when they can meet, and some sites have participants who are able and willing (because of the global nature of the meet-up) to make the sacrifice with late nights, which we are grateful for.
I'm actually out of West LA, if you every make it there-- perhaps if Eric is teaching in the fall, we'd be on campus at the same time!
Joyati Debnath
Thanks for bringing me into this project, Zach. Let me know what I can do.
Zach Mbasu
Zach Mbasu
You are most welcome Joyati! With your research interests and as a recipient of many grants including the National Science Foundation Instruction Laboratory Improvement (NSF-ILI), we will all learn a lot from you.
Zach Mbasu
Helen Teague
What is especially significant to me as a 3rd-year member of Dr. Hamilton's research team, is the engagement in math concepts by students of both genders both globally and in the U.S. I am not sure that I would stay up (or get up) at 2:00am to discuss math concepts, but two weeks' ago, students in Kenya did! They slept at their school in order to participate in an online, global Fuze meet-up w/ high school math students in California. All students' insightful, engaging conversations and discussions of their STEM projects were illuminating for me. "Illuminating" is a word of hyperbole but it fits appropriately after listening to the discussions and insights of the students.
Hiroo Kato
Christine Laetitia
Veera Kallunki
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
Helen, Los Angeles and Nairobi are just in different time zones, not intellectual zones. Perhaps the sacrifice is evidence that the students have some elements in the Project which align to their aspirations. Let's give the the hope, opportunity and scaffold their work. Thanks for the kind remarks about my neighbours. Zach is coordinating well
Helen Teague
Hiroo Kato
Okay, so this answers the question I just asked Danielle about meeting across varying time-zones. Helen/Ateng, what kind of internet bandwidth do the students have in Kenya?
Jill Ackers
Awesome video! Love the collaborative space that has been developed to foster the cultural makerspace. Here are a few of my wonders. I'm sure you have so much documentation as part of the research that it would answer many of my questions. Do the teachers co-create the project via the three countries? Do they using a process to plan the projects? How often do the teachers collaborate? What documentation are you using to track their growth and their student's growth during the process? In what ways are the teachers and students reflecting on their work? Is reflection part of the analysis at the end of the study? I would love to see the teacher and student reflections as they progress through the process to see how they think and feel as result of the cypermakerspace at the various stages of their critical thinking . Very cool! Thank you for the opportunity to see into the project!
Zach Mbasu
Kristina Lux
Jill,
You ask several great questions! The teachers meet almost weekly with the site liaisons and the students. These meetups are generally conducted through Fuze meetings. We use one note to track and record all of our data. Reflection is a HUGE part of our study. For that, we use google docs. The project is very exciting and rapidly growing!
Zach Mbasu
Zach Mbasu
Jill, thank you so much for your insightful wonders! It is really participatory and involves students at every stage from choosing their own projects to work on, planning through to creating videos on their projects and sharing. Although, there is still a lot of variability in students designing meaningful/effective projects and strong driving questions, teachers have always come in handy.
We emphasise reflection as key part of learning and through students' personal reflections at the end of each the regular fuze meetings, individuals and groups of students working on projects have seen opportunities for growing and developing further their projects and videos.
Zach Mbasu
Zach Mbasu
Jill, we use documentation as a tool for making learners' thinking visible, we have students videos of their own investigations, fuze recordings of learners global meetups, written notes of students' ideas and contributions on OneNote. Teachers, also do comments on students' projects that would sometimes lead to rich discussions among learners.
Dickson Kamau
A curious mind leads itself to great innovations and creativity. With scientist discipline and technological advances clearly stipulated here, we can create a better world today for the future of our kids. Through practical and interactive workshop's, students gain the technical skills to design solutions to challenges.I like how the use of technology has been used to link all the students in the different countries and their facilitators in one platform. Sharing of different innovations and ideas by students in form of video helps students to benchmark from far ends. As a STEM educator, use of videos is key in workshops. I am fascinated by the project.
Kristina Lux
Zach Mbasu
Thank you Dickson for your comment, apart from sharing videos we are learning how learners model their interest in the project ideas being explored, how learner's support each other in constructing understanding and clarifying their own thinking of STEM concepts.
Moses Okumu
I have always been fascinated by how Eric builds international teams seamlessly. I have worked with Eric for close to 6 years now, and looking at the current research projects, makes me appreciate the foundational work done many years ago. It is interesting to see how all the different pieces that seemed disjointed 6 years ago, now combined to tell a coherent story of the how students can influence their own learning. I am encouraged of the future that holds for STEM education and the benefits of the collaborative learning environments especially for students in West.
Hiroo Kato
Eric Hamilton
Kristina Lux
Helen Teague
Ross Wehner
I learned about this project through Zach Mbasu, an inspiring educator in Kenya. I love the approach and idea of connecting students in different parts of the world. Thank you for this wonderful work!
Ross Wehner, Founder, www.tablabeducation.org
Eric Hamilton
Ross, I agree with you about the nature of Mr Mbasu's inspirational leadership. I often call him a future leader of Africa. Excited about connections to tablab :)
Henry Buttuk
Thank you very much Mr JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL for introducing me to this project. I want to get more involved here as an enthusiastic Kenyan educator.
Ateng' Ogwel
Helen Teague
Eric Hamilton
Henry, do you know Zach Mbasu?
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
Eric, Henry is connected to us through CEMASTEA. We were with him in Saijo some years back. I met him at the SMASE Workshop this week. He's an amazing guy
Eric Hamilton
Very nice, and thank you. Perhaps we can visit in July.
Lauren Amos
Associate Director
A really wonderful project! Collaborative learning on this kind wasn't yet possible when I was teaching CS. As a program evaluator, I'm always thinking about the replicability and scalability of programs. What kind of supports do you offer or are you planning to develop to help individuals and organizations establish new virtual networks and media clubs?
Hiroo Kato
Ateng' Ogwel
Christine Laetitia
Eric Hamilton
Lauren, always good to communicate with a fellow NU alum (I hope I have that right!) We are trying to sort out ways for low cost and no-cost expansion and involvement. It turns out that there are almost endless aspects to the blend of tools we use, and a main task is developing fluency in all systems interchangeably - using onenote, g-drive, skype, fuze, android tools, windows tools, iOS, wireless versus wifi connections, etc - all as prerequisites for the main event - the collaboration around digital STEM media in service of helping peers learn. All of these are in play simultaneously. Once this expertise is acquired, then a lot of the project is scalable. So we are trying to distill this. Any thoughts you have would be welcome : )
Hiroo Kato
Lauren Amos
Ateng' Ogwel
Christine Laetitia
Lauren Amos
Associate Director
Guilty as charged! You have it right! It sounds like you're on the right track. I'd love to learn more about how you're approaching the training piece as the project evolves.
Jenna Welsh
This is a great project and very innovative in terms of collaborative learning. I've had the joy of getting to monitor some of the video project collaboration as students talk and discuss ideas for their videos on onenote. It's so exciting to watch unfold and see the possibilities for education using these new methods and technologies.
Hiroo Kato
Ateng' Ogwel
Christine Laetitia
Eric Hamilton
We are so proud you are on the team. And find it cool that the video producer came out from behind the editor to join the conversation!
Hiroo Kato
MARGUERITE MIHESO-OCONNOR
I wish to say that this project can benefit from focussed collaboration more than open video development across cultures and levels of education. This should be the be essence of the project. It will be interesting to see how different groups interpret and conceptualise their understanding of identified task. It will also be interesting to synch by level of technology uptake and exposure as technology levels differ by culture and regiont. Can you share some videos that have been generated.
Sometimes clarity of purpose evolves and I would like to be kept updated on the progress and impact of this effort Mbasu and Ateng Ogwel.. We need to start somewhere and this is good but be clear where you are going.. Good effort.. waiting to hear more
Eric Hamilton
Ateng' Ogwel
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
My boss and mentor, was is and will remain. Keep the beacons, Dr. Oconnor as you move ahead, we may not follow the same path but we are in the same direction.
Eric Hamilton
One thing I like about Marguerite's post is that directs to a different path - sort of rare for these showcase comments.
There is quite a bit to unpack in this counsel and how or why we do things the way we have. How do we connect? You know my liege Ogwel?
Tabby Goko
Great work you are doing. It is really inspiring seeing students especially from underprivileged communities becoming co-creators of content. This is paradigm shift from teacher focused to student centered learning. Would love to know how this interaction with technology and content creation impact on their overall performance. How do you measure that? To what extent is the teacher involved?
Eric Hamilton
Tabby, we are still sorting that out as we ramp up the project. We have about 15 clubs right now, and the teacher profile differs in each!
Zach Mbasu
Thank you Tabby for your great questions, at the moment teachers are taking students comments on OneNote and in videos as a starting point for dialogue. Simple follow up questions like "Can you say more about that?" or "What makes you say that?" have been used to clarify students' thinking during the Fuze global meetups too.
Eric Hamilton
David Alexander
I love the fact that the seed of international collaboration is sowed into the minds of young learners. Improving learning methods is very necessary if we are to develop the researchers and innovators of generations to come. Keep up the great work!
Eric Hamilton
Eric Hamilton
Stay with us sir!
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
Eric and team, the assessment tool to be developed would help bring out the underlying drivers to the participation of the students. Am looking at motivational issues and soft skills beyond the affordances of the technologies.
Eric Hamilton
I agree! I hope that ENA helps us with this. In any case, we will formulate a new set of questions for the summer sessions.
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
The IC4 project provides, in addition to the secondary school students learning and collaboration, an opportunity for the graduate students and early career researchers to hone professional skills. The collaboration with other researchers from the universities builds critical synergy with the potential to harness the complexity of data in the Project. The team from UW-Madison led by David Shaffer give deeper insights into the adaptation of the assessment tool based on Epistemic Network Analysis. Let's keep the focus and conversation
Eric Hamilton
Gave my earlier reply before seeing this. As you can see: agreed!
Jerome Zegaigbe Amedu
Without any doubt this is a great initiative. Students learn a lot from their peers and easily get inspired by them. The media (technology) component and international dimension can be a great motivation for students. How do I become a part of this? What are some plans on ground to extend this initiative to other countries?
Eric Hamilton
Jerome, are you in AIMS? We did a forerunner workshop at AIMS Ghana three years ago, and have maintained an intention to keep working with AIMS in some capacity. I have also been to AIMS/False Bay. You must know Mr Mbasu? Let me know...
Ateng' Ogwel
Jerome Zegaigbe Amedu
Yes, I am currently a student at AIMS Tanzania (almost through with my program though). Mr Mbasu has visited us a couple of times, I enjoyed the sessions He facilitated in one of our school outreaches last year and I really love the vision of the African Maths Initiative.
Eric Hamilton
Ateng' Ogwel
Hiroo Kato
Eric and team, this is exciting work! What are some examples of projects that the students are coming up with? You had mentioned there are about 50+ so far. Also, how are the videos created being shared within the network?
Eric Hamilton
Danielle Espino
There's a researcher's info page link Eric provided in an earlier post, which has some examples of the projects. Since we are in the early stages, right now projects are only being shared within the network through OneNote and our online global meet-ups. As we continue, we hope to directly showcase more of the students' work!
Mike Kipkorir Bill
Very proud of all of you! Great job! As a person very interested in education and working on similar projects (albeit from the economically sustainable point of view), I can relate to the challenges and the potential this has. Looking forward to seeing more and perhaps a collaboration in the future.
Ateng' Ogwel
Eric Hamilton
Mike, thank you for your kind comments. You are in the Rift Valley area?
Sonya Sharififard
Dr. Hamilton has the most exceptional research team. It is a blessing and privilege to stay abreast of their work and service. I consider great pride in one of [his] many empowering quotes: "It is important for the school to wrap around the learner, rather than to have the learner wrap around the school." Thank you for your leadership, expertise and deep impact.
Eric Hamilton
Eric Hamilton
Sonya, thank you for such heartwarming comments. We will try to live up to them!
JOSEPH CARILUS ATENG' OGWEL
Eric and team,
It's encouraging to read the comments, questions and expression of potential collaboration with other initiatives.
I could be getting more closely involved with the IC4 in the coming days, though not much at operational level. I should be getting to CEMASTEA after nearly 900 days of regular engagement at the Ministry of Education.
Eric Hamilton
This would simply be lovely. And I notice my reply is the 100th comment on the board. Yikes. Glad it is on this matter. Please give my regards to Mr Njoroge. I hope to see you mid July.
Kimberly Sheridan
Eric and team,--I'd love to check in with you on this work. Way back when I was just out of undergrad I did a Fulbright study in Kenya and was really interested in jua kali work there--which I have been thinking a lot about in my past 5 years now studying learning makerspaces/through making.
Eric Hamilton
Kimberly, you are at GMU? If so, please say hello to our good friend Kathy Matson, working on her PhD in CEHD. Much of this work was actually advanced through a three year Fulbright, interestingly, which took place in Namibia after being originally slated to occur in Kenya, before being transferred to the SW. This new project now has two schools in Kenya - one for students in Kibera, and one just a bit NE of the capital, in Thika. Our students don't currently have a lot of mobility, but now you have me intrigued about drawing jua kali work more into the mix. Perhaps we can interact more on this. Thank you for your note!
Kimberly Sheridan
Sounds very cool--I know where Kibera and Thinka are (I was an exchange student at the University of Nairobi during my undergrad and then did the Fulbright work in the years after). This was back in the 90s though. I'd love to discuss more--and, yes, I'm at GMU-- Feel free to contact me --my info is here-: https://cehd.gmu.edu/people/faculty/ksherida/ I have a joint appointment in Educational Psychology in CEHD and in art and visual technology. I don't know that I've had a chance to interact with Kathy--I think she's in math education--but I'll keep an eye out for her.
Maria Neves
This is a very promising initiative, and I think that it will create a big impact in learners as well as in the whole education chain (peers, teachers,school). As a contribution I would like to share that we have been working with PBL (problem based learning) techniques in our clubs and it seems to work very well with the development of collaboration and critical thinking skills
Eric Hamilton
Maria, thank you. Where are your clubs located?
Further posting is closed as the event has ended.